Wānana Pū – Recollect

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Hawaii Five-0 or the characters.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

505050505050505050505050505050505050505050505050505050505050505050505050505050505050505050505050505050505050505050505050505050

The first week back home was pretty hard for Danny. He didn't sleep very well during the night and remained exhausted during the day. It was like he had competed in a triathlon, so he tried to rest and sleep a lot during the day. Steve stayed that whole week. He came back after work and helped Danny with some simple tasks around the house. The rest of the team dropped by regularly as well. Steve picked up Grace on the weekend to spend some time with Danny. As much as Danny liked to see Charlie, too, he wasn't quite ready for the little guy. It would take too much energy. Plus the smallest thing could bring back a piercing headache.

He did continue to have a sore head, the incisions started to itch as they were healing. After one week Danny had to come back to the hospital so they could remove the stitches. It sure felt better to have the stitches removed. The incisions from the burr holes were barely visible. The cut on his forehead was visually present though. Danny gradually increased his physical activity as he could handle it. The doc warned him that it could take several weeks to return to his previous level of energy and strength. He felt better every day for the first two weeks, after that the progress became slower.

Danny wanted to go back to work after spending two weeks at home and Doctor Reid let him. Only she made herself clear he had to start with working half days on desk duty. Danny should be able to go back in the field within a few weeks, but right now it would be too much for him. He could resume activity as his body permitted it, but he had to avoid strenuous running. Which they both knew he would be doing, if she allowed him to go back in the field. Plus his ribs weren't fully recovered yet. It went better every day. Breathing didn't hurt that much anymore, only some unexpected movement could make him cringe again.

Steve picked him up daily. The first week back at work really took a lot out of him. At first Danny thought he could handle working a full day, but after a few hours all his energy was drained and his headache returned. Steve dropped him back off at home after a couple of hours work for the first week. The weeks after went better. Danny managed to gradually work more hours a day up to working full days. He did finally file his report and his statement. He had asked Kono for the report of the case and he basically copied it. He didn't want to tell Steve that a whole day had been erased from his memory. Doctor Reid agreed he could go back in the field after his third week back at work. Most of his problems should resolve with time, but Danny still didn't remember the day of the explosion, not even after reading the incident reports. He simply forgot a lot of easy and normal things. He also had trouble naming things and his moods changed easily. The whole team didn't say too much about it; they just gave him the time he needed.

Steve picked Danny up the morning he was going to be back in the field. Danny was allowed to drive his own car, but he hadn't done it yet. Not that Steve would let him drive anyway. When Steve arrived at Danny's place, he parked his truck on the side of the street, because they would go to work in the Camaro.

The front door was unlocked, so he opened the door and walked inside. "Danny?" Steve shouted.

"Yo! Coffee is in the kitchen!" Danny shouted back from somewhere in the house. Steve didn't see him.

"Great, you want a cup?" Steve went to the kitchen to poor himself one.

"No thanks!"

"Then why did you make it?" Steve's forehead furrowed as he grabbed a mug out of the kitchen cabinet.

Danny entered the kitchen while buttoning his stone blue button down shirt. "I appreciate you picking me up, that's all."

"They really screwed up your head didn't they?" Steve grinned as he carefully took a small sip from the hot coffee.

"I'm actually starting to think that you screwed up my head over the last years arguing with each other. Just admit you enjoy your coffee more when I am around." Danny tucked his shirt into his spruce colored trousers.

"I'm in desperate need of coffee when I'm around you. Or I can't handle the rest of the day." Steve mocked as he leaned against the kitchen counter.

"You done with the cute critique? Let's go." Danny grabbed the car keys and his badge off the kitchen counter.

"Aren't you forgetting something?" Steve took another sip of his coffee. He snorted after Danny acted like he didn't know what he was talking about. Confusion crossed Danny's face. Steve lowered the mug and stared at Danny while a line appeared between his brows. Danny had really no idea what he was talking about. "You might want to take your gun with you?"

"I probably should, knowing you," Danny patted Steve on his bicep. Steve looked astounded at Danny. "Well it's not that I uh, that I needed it the past three weeks," Danny started to search quickly around the house. Steve watched Danny as he did. "Where's my gun? You know where I left my gun? Have you seen it around?" Danny asked Steve as he came back from his bedroom into the living room.

"Did you grab it already?"

"No I didn't. Otherwise I would've had it on my hip, don't you think?" Danny used his usual sarcastic tone.

"It's in the safe in your bedroom... as it always has been." Steve pointed back to the bedroom Danny just came from. It frightened him that Danny really didn't seem to remember any of that.

"Ah," Danny exclaimed and walked back to his bedroom.

505050505050505050505050505050505050505050505050505050505050505050505050505050505050505050505050505050505050505050505050505050

Steve and Danny were on their way to HQ. They sat in silence next to each other in the car. Steve was focused on the road. He hadn't said anything else after Danny forgot to take his gun with him. He just hoped it would be a one-time thing, but he knew better than that. Danny was carefully touching the scars on his head from the burr holes. They sometimes itched, but he didn't want to scratch, it would only make it worse. Danny looked over at Steve. He rolled his eyes.

"Your coffee is getting cold, just like the atmosphere in this car." Danny referred to the half full mug that Steve had taken with him, plus the fact that Steve hadn't said anything since they left his house. Which was almost ten minutes ago. Steve let out a big obnoxious breath.

"Could you just forget about it?" Danny said disapproving of Steve's response.

"I didn't say anything, did I?" Steve took a gulp of coffee just to ignore Danny. Only the coffee was stone cold, so he swallowed hard.

"Yes, you actually did, you uh, you blew air out of your nose. And you do that mostly when you're disagreeing with me. You find it easier to do that instead of actually speaking with me." Danny was speaking with his hands and his usual tone.

"Still I didn't actually say anything, did I?" Steve took his eyes off the road and looked at Danny.

"What is the matter with you, huh? What's bothering you? I for once would like to know." Danny was getting tired of Steve trying to dodge a conversation.

"You want to know what is bothering me? All right then, they said there might be some permanent damage. Don't deny that you have trouble remembering things Danny, because I did notice it."

"Oh so you are a doctor now?" Danny raised his voice and looked irritated back at Steve. "Because if you are, then there is something wrong, because I can't remember that you got your medical degree!"

"No, Danny, I'm not a doctor, just humor me would you? How are you feeling?" Steve jerked his head to look at him, daring him to answer his question.

"How am I feeling? Well Doctor you asked me that question for the past weeks, multiple times a day. But I'm fine!" Danny replied as he rolled his eyes.

"You see? Right there, that's what is bothering me. You are not telling me the truth!" Steve barked. He was done playing games about this.

"I'm fine right now. Do you want me to say that I feel terrible? 'Cause I do not, but actually the longer we argue about it the more severe my headache is going to be!" Danny snapped. He didn't understand why Steve had to make such a big deal out of it.

"Stop, Danny listen to me! I know for a fact that you have trouble remembering things in general. Hell, you even copied the report, because you don't recall that whole day, do you?" Steve shot Danny an accusatory look.

"What? How?" Danny stared perplexed at Steve.

"We all have a different way of saying things and the wording was different than yours, so I figured it out." Steve explained. He had known for weeks.

"What the hell, were you even planning on telling me?" Danny stared with his mouth open at Steve, waiting impatiently for an explanation.

"I need to tell you?" Steve snorted. "That's funny you know, I just thought I'd be someone you would tell if something was wrong."

"And you are, really, but there is nothing wrong, Steve! They said there could be some complications, so there's nothing wrong." Danny shrugged his shoulders.

"But it's not normal either."

"No. I uh, I don't remember the day of the explosion and it comes and goes," Danny confessed.

"What does exactly?" Steve glanced at Danny; not totally understanding what he meant by 'comes and goes'.

Danny clenched his jaw, not wanting to say it out loud. "Things I remember or not."

"Then why didn't you tell me that sooner?" Steve had lowered his voice. Danny was finally opening up to him, so he didn't need to shout any longer.

"I didn't want to worry you, and I know you. You would go all overprotective over me when I came back to work and I didn't need you to do that. Doc says it's to be expected, it just takes some time and honestly I'm feeling better every day." Danny locked his eyes on the road, not wanting to look at Steve.

"All right. Just promise me you'll tell me if there's something wrong. I can't have your back if you're not being honest with me okay?" Steve's phone rang, but he ignored it for a second, waiting what Danny had to say.

"I know that and I will." Danny promised as he scratched his eyebrow.

Steve nodded and answered the call. "McGarrett."

505050505050505050505050505050505050505050505050505050505050505050505050505050505050505050505050505050505050505050505050505050

MONDAY – 10:08 AM – PARKING GARAGE - STRAUB MEDICAL CENTER - HONOLULU

Steve had parked the Camaro in front of the crime scene. A dead body had been found in the parking garage beneath Straub Medical Center. Steve lifted up the crime scene tape and both he and Danny went underneath it. CSU was already on scene, just like the M.E's office. Chin walked up to them.

"Hey guys, so the victim's name is Eden Morrison, 27 years old. She's an ER nurse here at the hospital. A coworker found her dead next to her car this morning." Both men nodded as they were updated and strolled to the car.

"Max!" Steve called out to their friend, who examined the body lying next to the car.

"What do we know?" Danny walked around and looked at the dead female. She looked young, petite, long braided brown hair and was still wearing her sea foam colored scrubs.

Max looked up from the body to the three men standing around him. He was surprised to see Danny standing there as well. "It's good to see you back in the field, Detective Williams. How's your head? Headaches I imagine?"

"I don't have one yet, Max, but I'm sure that if we continue this conversation that I'll get one. So tell me, what do we know?" Annoyed, Danny stared at Max and jammed his hands in his front pockets.

Max got the hint and continued his examination. "Forgive me. Well just the obvious. The marks around the victim's throat indicate that COD is strangulation. The depth of the ligature marks suggests the assailant was very powerful and most likely male." Max pointed out the broad dark purple line on the victim's throat.

"With strangulation we can rule out that it was intentional." Chin stated.

"Well at least not planned, the killer had to improvise." Steve agreed with Chin.

Danny sighed as he looked at the young female. "All right, what about TOD?"

"Based on this stage of rigor, I'd estimate between 10 pm and midnight." Max shared his findings.

"Anything on her?" Steve asked.

Chin handed the wallet that was bagged by CSU. "Cash is still here."

"All right, so this definitely wasn't a robbery." Steve counted the money and looked at the cards that were all still there.

"Chin what about a…" Danny's face went blank. "You know… people."

"Witnesses?" Chin guessed. Both he and Steve looked at Danny. Concern was etched on both their faces.

"Yes, thank you." Danny snapped his fingers as Chin gave him the right answer.

"Eden worked till 10:30 pm. That's when her shift ended. Three coworkers have confirmed seeing her leave the employee lounge a little after that."

"Okay, Danny and I will speak to them, see if there was something unusual. In the meantime go check the camera footage from the elevator down to the garage," Steve instructed.

"I'm on it." Chin nodded.

Steve and Danny made their way up to the ER to question some of the victim's coworkers. They still didn't say anything to each other except some speculation on the case, but neither of them brought up the conversation in the car or the incident of Danny not remembering what a witness was.

The first two witnesses hadn't much to add. They both hadn't worked the shift with Eden, they just saw her leave the hospital. The third coworker, the Chief of the ER, handed Danny a tablet with the employee record of Eden. Danny scrolled through the file. He focused on the words, but his vision blurred as he did. He stretched his arm to create some distance with the hope he could read better. He looked up from the tablet and he saw just fine. Back to the screen, the lines started to dance again. It didn't make any sense to him.

"She did act a bit different at the end of the shift. She couldn't get out of here quick enough," he informed Steve and Danny.

"Act different? Like?" Steve asked as he peered over Danny's shoulder at the tablet.

"She seemed nervous and stressed out," the man described.

Danny handed the tablet to Steve. He still couldn't make out a single word. The brightness of the tablet screen made it impossible to read. He hadn't had trouble with reading in weeks, so he had no clue why he would be having trouble now. Steve took the tablet and gave Danny a confused look.

Danny cleared his throat. "I can't read it."

-H50-